


Cherry Stem

by Attack_Of_The_Flying_Dekus



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-22
Updated: 2016-07-22
Packaged: 2018-07-26 02:42:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7556956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Attack_Of_The_Flying_Dekus/pseuds/Attack_Of_The_Flying_Dekus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nico moaned as the juices swirled in his mouth. It had been years since he’d had a strawberry, and he knew now to appreciate it, because they didn’t last long. He ate a couple more strawberries before noticing Will glancing at the food wistfully.</p><p>Nico held out a single strawberry. “You want one?” Will nodded, taking it out of his hand. He plucked the stem off and popped it into his mouth nonchalantly. Nico went back to the plate to get another when he realized the strawberries were gone. He sighed and reached for a cherry instead. He put the entire thing in his mouth, stem and all, to Will’s confusion. The blonde watched in fascination as he spit the pit out and then pulled out a perfectly knotted cherry stem.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cherry Stem

**Author's Note:**

> So, I actually wrote this a while ago, and I posted it on FF.net, and then I got an account on here and didn't do anything for the longest time. But here it is, I hope you enjoy it as much as the people on FF.net did! :D
> 
> EDIT:3/26/17  
> Now edited! c:

Being in the infirmary for three days wasn’t so bad, Nico decided. The infirmary was quiet and calm, and the Hecate cabin and the Hypnos cabin worked together to charm the infirmary after the war to make sure all the patients got plenty of rest--without nightmares. Nico thought this was amazing, as he was usually plagued with horrible nightmares, which usually caused him to wake up screaming, or just not to even go to sleep at all. The infirmary was quite nice, too, what with the sunlight streaming in through every window. Nico could see the strawberry fields from where he was laying. It was... peaceful. Tranquil.

There was also Will Solace, who kept Nico smiling, or at least what passed for it, with jokes and his own silly mistakes. Will would walk in and trip over literally nothing, and then make a big deal about it. He’d flail and make an over-dramatic squeal as he tried to catch himself and what he was holding. Nico hasn’t decided whether or not Will is doing it for his benefit, or if he’s really just that clumsy and melodramatic, but he thinks it’s the latter.

Speaking of over-dramatic clumsiness….

There was a loud crash and a low yell, then Will came tumbling into Nico’s line of view. The incredulous expression on his face was almost enough to send Nico into a laughing fit. Almost. Instead, he rolled out of his cot and offered to help Will up.

“Get up, you klutz. How are you a doctor? I swear, I think you do more harm than good.” Nico asked, helping Will up off the floor. Will glares at Nico's smirk and takes his hand.

“I’m a very good doctor, thank you very much. I’ve probably healed more campers than you’ve killed monsters.” Will states, brushing off nonexistent dust. Nico scoffs at the declaration.

“Not likely,” Nico mutters under his breath as he walks back to his cot and situates himself. Will takes a stethoscope from around his neck and gestures for Nico to sit up.

“Why?” Nico groans. He had _just_ laid down. 

“Because I need to check your heart rate and your breathing. Also, you need to take off your shirt.” Will stated calmly, causing Nico to shoot him an incredulous look.

“Excuse me? Why do I need to take off my shirt?” Nico asked, crossing his arms.

“Because it doesn’t work as well if your shirt is on. Stethoscopes can only hear so much.” Will informs Nico with a straight face. “Besides, I need to check if there are any physical injuries you obtained that might need tending to.” 

Nico sighs, then sits up and reaches for the hem of his shirt, pulling it over his head. Will tsks at the mostly healed wolf claw marks. He puts the stethoscope on Nico’s back, startling Nico with its lack of heat.

“Breathe in deeply.” Nico breathed in. “Now breathe out.” Nico breathed out. Will had him repeat this a couple more times, moving the scope around occasionally, then moving the stethoscope to Nico’s chest, listening to his heartbeat. Nico wasn’t used to such close contact with anyone except Hazel, so the entire experience was quite awkward, and left Nico with a racing heart and a slightly pinked face. 

“Well, your heart-rate is a bit fast, but nothing that won’t go away over a few minutes.” Was it just him, or did Will’s face look a little pink as well? “And your breathing is normal, so that’s good. But that darkness is still there, I could feel that much. How long did you say you’ve been shadow-traveling?” 

“Since I was ten.” Nico answered.

“That tells me nothing. How old are you?” Will asks, scrunching his eyebrows together. 

“Biologically? Probably about… eighty-eight? I was born in 1924. But, physically, I am fourteen. I think.” Nico tapped his lips in concentration, looking towards the ceiling. “Yeah, that sounds about right.”

Will stared at him silently for a moment, then nodded slowly, a little disbelieving. “Okay, so you’ve been doing this since you were physically ten, right?” Nico nods. “Then you’ve been doing this for four years, on top of the journey you just took from Greece to New York.” Nico nods. “Okay, so then, in order to get you back to complete health, I’m going to need you to not shadow-travel for a while.” 

“How long is a while?” Nico asks.

“Eh, about a year, give or take?” Will guesses. At Nico’s incredulous expression, Will crosses his arms. “Don’t give me that look. You need to let your soul heal.” Nico scoffs. His soul? His soul was perfectly fine from what he could tell, if he even had one any more. 

“A year and a half? My soul is fine, and even if it were damaged, it certainly wouldn’t need a year and a half to heal.” Nico grumbles, crossing his arms. Will simply fixes him with a stern look.

“Percy told me you went through Tartarus. Alone.” Nico cursed under his breath. “Percy said that he and Annabeth barely made it out with their sanity, and they had each other. You expect me to believe that you are completely fine after going through it alone?” Will’s voice is hard, and leaves hardly any room for argument. Too bad Nico loves to argue.

“Yes! Because I am perfectly fine! I don’t need your help, and I don’t want your help. Why won‘t you just understand that?” Nico yells, hands balling into fists. Will rakes his fingers through his hair and sighs.

“You are insanely stubborn, Nico. Why can’t you realize that I want to help? I’m not doing this because I have to, it’s because I want to. I want to help you, because I want to be your friend. But, no, you want to be stubborn as a rock and be a loner.” Will pauses for a moment, breathing heavily. “So you know what? Fine. Have it your way.” Will says roughly, then storms out of the room, leaving a very drained and confused Nico standing with his fists clenched. Nico is frozen for a moment, then he groans and collapses on the bed behind him. 

_What in Hades is wrong with me_ , he asks himself. _Why can’t I just let one person stay?_ This is his last thought before he falls asleep, curled up with tears streaming silently down his face.

* * *

When Nico wakes, Will is walking into the room, shoulders slumped, face solemn, up until the moment he realizes Nico is awake. Will smiles brightly and straightens up, ignoring the fact that they fought only a couple of hours ago, and holds up a plate of fruit. 

“Glad to see you’re awake. Hungry?” Will gestures towards the plate and Nico sits up, rubbing his eyes and reaching for the plate hungrily. “I guess so.” Will chuckles and hands the plate to him, which he gratefully accepts. Nico notices something lurking in Will’s eyes, a certain sadness. 

Nico pauses with a strawberry halfway to his mouth. “Something wrong?” He quirks an eyebrow at the solemn son of Apollo. Will glances over at him and smiles softly.

“Nothing I can’t handle.” Will says quietly, and Nico can hear the sadness in his tone. Nico racks his brain then comes up with the only plausible reason he can think of. 

“Another death?” Nico asks quietly, putting the strawberry down. He’d felt the death earlier, a little buzz that woke him up for a few seconds. It wasn’t the jarring ringing in his ears that he’d feel when it was someone close to him, so he’d ignored it. 

Will nodded. “He was new. Unclaimed. Centaur trampled him to death during the battle. I… I couldn’t save him.” Will’s voice shook. “He was so young… Only about ten.” Will's voice cracked, his eyes welling up. Nico didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know what he was thinking, trying to comfort someone who was obviously quite distraught. He figured if anything, he’d make the son of Apollo feel worse, rather than make him feel better. But he had to try.

“Fate is cruel. I’m sorry you feel like you didn’t do enough, but you did what you could. It wasn’t your fault.” Nico assured him. The raven-haired boy smiled what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

“Thanks.” Will mumbles, attempting to smile. Nico smiles back, or he tries to.

“Can I eat now? You’re depressing me more than I already am.” Nico picks up the strawberry again and moves to eat it, Will’s eyes following the fruit as it made its way to Nico’s mouth. 

Nico moans as the juices swirl in his mouth. It had been years since he’d had a strawberry, and he knew now to appreciate it, because they didn’t last long. He ate a couple more strawberries before noticing Will glancing at the food wistfully. 

Nico held out a single strawberry. “You want one?” Will nodded, taking it out of his hand. He plucked the stem off and popped it into his mouth nonchalantly. Nico went back to the plate to get another when he realized the strawberries were gone. Nico sighed and reached for a cherry instead. He put the entire thing in his mouth, stem and all, to Will’s confusion. Nico noticed Will watching and held a finger up to tell him ‘hold onWill watched in fascination as Nico spit the pit out and then pulled out a perfectly knotted cherry stem. 

Will cocks an eyebrow. Seems like di Angelo’s got some secrets even he doesn’t know about, Will thinks, surprised. Surely he knows… Doesn’t he?

Another stem joins the plate, knotted perfectly.

 _I don’t think he knows. Someone should tell him. Maybe he could get Lou Ellen to do it? Or Cecil?_

_Or maybe you could grow some balls and do it yourself_ , a voice in the back of his head told him. 

_Pfft. Shut up_ , he told it. He figured if he suddenly brought that up, Nico would either get really defensive or really embarrassed. The embarrassed Nico, Will figures he’d probably enjoy seeing, considering Nico is never flustered about anything, but a defensive Nico? 

No, thank you. Will had had enough defensive Nico for the day. 

He ultimately decided to drop it, shaking his head then smiling at Nico, who had been looking at him curiously. _You're staring._

_Oh well._

So what if the son of Hades was a--supposedly--good kisser? It wasn’t like Will was ever going to find out, not that Will wanted to, of course not. It’s not like the Ghost King was attractive or anything, with his raven hair mussed from sleeping, and his perfect bow-shaped lips dripping with strawberry juice still, and-- _okay, now you’re just being weird, Solace_ , Will chastised himself. 

_I wonder if I could do that_ , was his next thought. He picked up a cherry and popped it in his mouth, stem and all, then he proceeded to carefully eat the cherry itself, rather than accidentally chew the stem and ruin it. He spit the pit out, then began working on the stem. He twisted it one way, then another, but he couldn’t get it to tie. He eventually gave up, pulling the stem out. It had a bend in it, but no knot. Will sighed. _Oh well. Kissing doesn’t help me heal people anyways_ , he consoled himself.

He glances at Nico, who was having no problem with tying the cherry stems, as there were multiple knotted stems on the plate, with more being added. 

“How do you do that?” Will blurts, having had enough of his perfectly knotted stems. Nico froze, a cherry halfway to his mouth.

“How do I do what?” He asks, the cherry meeting the same demise as the rest. 

“That! That right there!” Will points at the stem Nico takes out of his mouth. It, like all the others, has a knot in the middle. Nico starts, then gives a short laugh, staring at the stem in wonder.

“I don’t actually know. I’ve been doing it since..." Nico's eyebrows knit together in confusion. "Well, I can't remember exactly, but I guess it just became a habit. I didn’t even realize I was doing it.” Will stares at Nico, then blinks once. Twice. 

“So you have no idea what you’re doing, or even that you’re doing it, but you can do it so perfectly? That is so not fair. I can’t do that.” Will’s mind was going a mile a minute. _He’s doing it without even trying? I’m almost curious to see what would happen if he was really trying… Will, no, stop that, you’re being a creeper again_ , he chided. 

“I guess so.” Nico was now examining the stems a with an almost confused air about him, one by one, noting that all of them had a knot in the middle. He seemed... put off. 

“Don’t you know what that means?” Will’s mouth starts moving on its own. He almost stops himself, but then decides to just let it go.

“It means something?” Nico scrunched his eyebrows together, making the butterflies in his stomach chase each other wildly. _It should be a crime to be this cute_ , Will noted.

“Yeah. It, uh, it kind of means that you…” Will pauses for dramatic effect. “It means that you’re a good kisser. Supposedly.” Will finishes, watching Nico’s expression go from surprise, to disbelief, then finally to deep embarrassment. His face beet red, Nico calmly puts the plate on the nightstand next to his cot, then sinks down into the cot, slowly putting the blankets and pillows over him, covering himself completely. 

Will chuckles. “Oh, come on, you’re not seriously embarrassed by that are you?” Nico pokes his face out from under the covers, his face still a brighter red than one of Apollo’s sacred cows, and grimaces.

“You have ruined cherries for me. Thanks so much.” Nico growls, then disappears back under the covers.

“Aww, that’s no way to act. Don’t make me come get you out of there.” Will thought it was absolutely adorable for Nico to be so flustered over kissing. It wasn’t like Will had leaned over and planted one on him. He’d simply told him that he was--supposedly--a good kisser. Not a big deal. Not to Will at least.

“You touch me, and I will rid your soul of your body. I’ve done it before. I will not hesitate to do it again.” Nico mumbles, his voice muffled from the blankets. 

“Fine whatever, Master kisser, stay down there as long as you like.” Will stifles a laugh at Nico’s indignant squeak at his new nickname. 

“Master kisser? Excuse you, what do you know about my k-kissing abilities? All you know is that I can tie a cherry stem into a knot!” Will openly laughs at Nico’s hurried escape from the blankets, sitting upright with a very pink and flustered face. 

“All I’m saying is that because you can tie a cherry stem into a knot, you’re a good kisser. It’s just popular belief, but no one’s been able to disprove it, or at least no one’s told me, so it must be true.” Will explains. Nico huffs, crossing his arms.

“I hate modern beliefs. Everything was a lot easier in my time.” Nico grumbles, to which Will laughs at. 

“Yeah, but this time is more fun. There’s a lot more stuff available. Different types of music, different movies, different people, different views…” Will could go on and on. Though he only elaborated on a subject that he was particularly proud of, as it included himself. “Did you know that America is working on making Gay marriage legal?” Nico visibly stiffens next to him. 

“N-no, I didn’t.” He manages to get out. Will watches him closely as Nico looks down at his lap, his hair covering his face.

“Well, they are. I hope it goes through. I’d like to settle down someday, and I’d like to be able to be open about it.” Nico’s head snaps up. Will notes a gleam of something in his eyes. Hope? Joy?

_That's wishful thinking, Solace._

“R-really? I-I…” Nico seems to be at a loss for words. He looks down at his lap, then looks back up at Will. “Will, I have something I want to tell you…” Will nods, slightly confused, but also hopeful. “I’m... I'm into guys too.” Nico gives a small smile, gauging Will’s expression. Will’s mind and heart race, still processing what Nico just said. Will’s body acts before his mind does, leaning forward and capturing Nico’s lips with his own, startling Nico. Nico, out of reflex, pushes him away.

“Hey, j-just because I’m into guys doesn’t mean you can just…” Nico falters, flustered and embarrassed. He throws the blankets off of himself, grabbing the shirt he took off earlier, then slipping it back over his head. 

“W-where are you going?” Will asks, confused and hurt.

“Out. I need to think.” Nico says without emotion, grabbing his sword from beside the door, then sheathing it. 

“But your three days aren’t over!” Will jumps up and grabs Nico’s arm. Nico yanks his arm from his grip, sending Will a withering death glare that makes him shrink back. 

“I don’t care.” And with that, Nico stalked out of the room, leaving Will on his knees in the middle of the floor. When the door slammed shut, Will crumbled. His hands hit the floor and he felt his face getting scrunched up, like it always does when he’s about to cry. He lowers himself to the floor, thinking to himself that he’s ruined everything. He feels tears running down his face, then he straightens up and angrily wipes them away. He wasn’t going to let his stupidity ruin something that could be great. He gets up off the ground and hurries out the door after Nico.

* * *

_How dare he_. How dare he startle Nico like that. What gave him the brilliant idea to kiss him? Stupid Will. 

Nico was walking towards the woods, ignoring the campers who tried to talk to him. Nico could feel the tears coming, and he wanted to hide himself as soon as possible. He couldn’t shadow travel, because he was still too weak. But he could hide. He could climb a tree, and he could hide in the shadows. No doubt Will was coming after him, the stupid doctor, always caring too much. In this moment, Nico just wanted to be alone for a while. 

Nico walked through the woods for a while before finding a suitable tree. He climbed up the tree and leaned back against the trunk, and he let his tears fall down. It had been a while since he’d allowed himself a good cry. He let them fall silently, or he’d make too much noise and Will would find him, which he didn’t want. 

Nico was only upset because he’d pushed Will away. He’d had exactly what he’d wanted, almost quite literally in his lap, and he pushed him away. He acted rashly, running away, like he always does. He pulls his knees up to his chest, laying his head on his arms.

He had been sitting in the tree for about ten minutes before he heard frantic footsteps. He glanced down to find the blonde teenage doctor running around, trying to find him. 

“Nico!” Will called, his hands cupped around his mouth, his hair askew. Nico leaned his head back against the trunk of the tree, hoping Will would just go away. “Nico, please come back! I’m sorry.” _Please go away,_ Nico thought. As if Will could hear his inner turmoil, he responded almost exactly to his thoughts. “I’m not going away until you come back with me. Please, come back. I’m really sorry.” Nico squeezed his eyes shut, willing the young doctor to go away, go away, _go away_.

“Nico… I shouldn’t have done that. I wasn’t thinking.” Nico scoffed quietly, rolling his eyes. Nico watched Will turn towards the sound. Nico cursed himself silently. How could he have forgotten? The Apollo kids all have excellent hearing. They could each probably hear the sound of a pin dropping half a mile away. 

“Nico? Are you here?” Will looked up, scanning the trees for Nico. Nico tried to cover himself as best as he could with the shadows, but since he was still so weak, he didn’t want to push it. He supposed it was good enough, as Will’s gaze passed right over him. Will slumped in defeat. Nico almost felt bad about hiding. Almost. Nico was still upset with Will, but he knew that he’d cave eventually. Nico wasn’t one for hurting others, unless they were enemies. 

Nico leans against the trunk again, trying to ignore the son of Apollo below.

“Nico, please come out. I hope you didn’t shadow travel. You’re not well enough for that, and as much as you hate it, it’s true. Please tell me you didn’t try to shadow travel… You might fade.” Will sit down at the base of the tree next to Nico’s tree. “I just… I care about you a lot. I know we haven’t known each other for long, but I’d be willing to wait for you. U-until you’re comfortable.

“Just please come out. We can work this out. I won’t try anything like I did earlier.” It had started to rain, startling Nico. It seemed to startle Will too, but he didn’t move from his spot. He merely looked up at the sky and let the rain hit his face. “Please Nico...” Will pleaded once more, then pulled his knees up to his chest and laid his head across his arms. When lightning flashed, Nico saw Will jump, his gaze shooting up. The rain started coming down harder, and Nico couldn’t take it anymore.

Nico climbed down the tree, landing gracefully on his feet. He was only a few feet from Will, but Will either didn’t notice or was too busy fighting off hypothermia to care. Nico nudged his shoulder, making him look up, then jump again. 

“Why are you out here in this rain? You’re a doctor, you should know better.” Nico chides him, holding out his hand. Will stares at it for a moment. “Well? Are you just going to sit there and get sick, or are you coming back with me to the infirmary?” Will looks back up at Nico, then takes his hand.

“You know, I wouldn’t be out in this rain if you hadn’t run off.” Will says quietly.

“And I wouldn’t have run off if you knew how to control your hormones.” Will’s face turned bright red, and he looked away sheepishly. 

“Guilty.” He responds shyly. Nico realizes he’s still holding his hand and drops it immediately. 

“Let’s just get back to the infirmary.” Nico mumbles. Nico glances at Will, who is smiling lightly, with his messy hair matted down by the rain. Nico looks away, blushing. _He shouldn’t still be so cute. He should look like a wet dog_. But he doesn’t, and it’s infuriating. 

By the time they reach the infirmary, they are both shivering, soaking wet, and sickness is pretty much guaranteed. Kayla finds them in Nico’s infirmary room, trying to dry off. She tsks at their situation.

“You should’ve known better than to go parading around in the rain. Now, you’re both going to get sick.” She scolded them, then finds them new sets of clothes and blankets. 

After changing into the dry clothes, they curled up together underneath multiple blankets, ‘to conserve body heat’, according to Will, but Nico suspects it’s just because he wants to be close to him. Nico didn’t mind for once, because Will was like a furnace. Will kept both of them warm and cozy, and Nico didn’t mind it one bit. Of course, if anyone asked him if he enjoyed it, he’d automatically deny it, but he so enjoyed it. 

“This is nice.” Will mutters, nuzzling his cheek against Nico’s shoulder affectionately. Nico noticed this, but he didn’t push him away, because he didn’t want to make Will upset again, and who was he kidding, he liked the close contact between the two of them.

“Yeah, I guess.” Nico says, leaning his head against Will’s. He likes this, this close contact with Will. Based on this thought, Nico decides something. “Hey, Will?”

“Hmm?” Will looks over at Nico curiously. Nico takes a deep breath, then puts his hand under Will’s chin and connects their lips. Will starts, but then he starts moving, kissing him back languidly. Nico caresses Will’s face as they kiss, using the other hand to thread his fingers through his hair. Will leans forward, deepening the kiss, and causing Nico to start, jumping back as if he'd bitten him.

"B-baby steps." Nico stutters, his cheeks a light pink color. 

“The cherry stems were right. You are a good kisser.” Will informs him causing him to blush and hide his face. “Aww, don’t hide your face, I like your face.” Will tells him, which makes his face get a shade or two darker. Nico looks up at Will grumpily, making Will grin at him.

The cherry stems were so right. Nico di Angelo was a fantastic kisser. And now, he was all Will’s. But don’t let Nico hear that. He’d skin him alive. And then resurrect him. And do it again.

“You’re so cute.” Will says, then pecks Nico on the nose. Nico smirks, then grabs the back of Will’s neck and pulls him down for a small peck on the lips. It wasn't much, but it was enough. For now.

“You’re not so bad yourself.” Nico told him, winking. Will’s heart felt like it was about to beat out of his chest. Who knew Nico could be such a flirt? And who knew that a relationship could start from something as small as a cherry stem?

Will didn’t, but he was glad he found out.

**Author's Note:**

> *Is secretly jealous of Nico for being able to do that* I, in fact, cannot tie a cherry stem in a knot. I've tried, it's a lot harder than it looks. (I'll try again after I get my braces off.) (I hate braces)  
> My headcanon for this particular story is that Nico learned how to tie knots in cherry stems as a game he played with Bianca. The silly superstition that it made you seem a good kisser hadn't been around back in their time; they just thought it was a fun way to pass the time. The rules were that whoever could tie the most stems the fastest got treated by the loser with gelato from their favorite cafe. And, even when Nico's older and his mind has been washed by the River Lethe, he still subconsciously remembers how to do it. 
> 
> Another headcanon that I just thought of: Nico's favorite fruit is cherries because of the game. Even if he doesn't remember when or why they became his favorite (CURSE YOU RIVER LETHE), they just are. Every time he eats one, he thinks of Bianca, but he thinks happy thoughts, from before the manticore kidnapped them.


End file.
